Board approves vehicle purchases

After having reviewed bids, the Richardson County Commissioners, meeting in regular session Tuesday, April 23, voted to purchase two vehicles, one for the Roads Department and the other for the Sheriff’s Department.

The bid from Lincoln Truck Center of Lincoln for a 2014 Freightliner 114SD was accepted. The cost is $101,575.

Sheriff Randy Houser met with Commissioners Dave Sickel, Jim Davidson and Jim Standerford to review the bids regarding the purchase of a patrol pickup unit. The board moved to award the bid for the purchase of a 2013 Ram 1500 Crew Cab 4-wheel drive patrol pickup to Armbruster Motor Co., Falls City, for a total price of $24,495.

Sheriff Houser also requested that discussion and plans be made to formalize the move of the Public Service Answering Point, 911 dispatch, to the County Sheriff’s Office. This item was to be placed on today’s agenda.

Highway Supt. Scott Huppert held his weekly meeting with the board. Weather permitting, he said, construction of the Preston North-South Road is scheduled to begin June 1.

Representatives of Prochaska & Associates presented an agreement for the completion of a needs assessment for the renovation of the Armory into a jail/law enforcement facility and to review a time line for completion of the project. The agreement was to be reviewed by the County Attorney’s office.

Deputy County Attorney Doug Merz presented 23 tax foreclosures. The board authorized the County Attorney’s office to proceed with the 23 tax foreclosures.

The United States called on Russia on Monday to destroy a new cruise missile system which it said constituted a "direct violation" of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and accused Moscow of destabilizing global security.

Israel struck in Syria early on Monday as part of its increasingly open assault on Iran's presence there, shaking the night sky over Damascus with an hour of loud explosions in a second consecutive night of military action.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's air strikes on Syria on Monday had mainly targeted military positions set up by Iran, which he warned would face consequences for threatening to destroy Israel.

British Prime Minister Theresa May will try to break the Brexit deadlock on Monday by setting out proposals in parliament that are expected to focus on winning more concessions from the European Union.